Switchable Polar Nanotexture in Nanolaminates HfO2-ZrO2 for Ultrafast Logic-in-Memory Operations

Nontrivial topological polar textures in ferroelectric materials, including vortices, skyrmions, and others, have the potential to develop ultrafast, high-density, reliable multilevel memory storage and conceptually innovative processing units, even beyond the limit of binary storage of 180 degrees aligned polar materials. However, the realization of switchable polar textures at room temperature in ferroelectric materials integrated directly into silicon using a straightforward large area fabrication technique and effectively utilizing it to design multilevel programable memory and processing units has not yet been demonstrated. Here, utilizing vector piezoresponse force and conductive atomic force microscopy, microscopic evidence of the electric field switchable polar nanotexture is provided at room temperature in HfO2-ZrO2 nanolaminates grown directly onto silicon using an atomic layer deposition technique. Additionally, a two-terminal Au/nanolaminates/Si ferroelectric tunnel junction is designed, which shows ultrafast (approximate to 83 ns) nonvolatile multilevel current switching with high on/off ratio (>10(6)), long-term durability (>4000 s), and giant tunnel electroresistance (10(8)%). Furthermore, 14 Boolean logic operations are tested utilizing a single device as a proof-of-concept for reconfigurable logic-in-memory processing. The results offer a potential approach to processing with polar textures and addressing the challenges of developing high-performance multilevel in-memory processing technology by virtue of its fundamentally distinct mechanism of operation.

Automated summary

Nontrivial topological polar textures in ferroelectric materials have the potential to revolutionize memory storage and processing units. However, integrating these polar textures into silicon using a large area fabrication technique at room temperature has not been demonstrated yet. In this study, the electric field switchable polar nanotexture is observed at room temperature in HfO2-ZrO2 nanolaminates grown directly onto silicon. A ferroelectric tunnel junction is also designed, showing ultrafast nonvolatile multilevel current switching, long-term durability, and giant tunnel electroresistance. The results indicate a potential approach to high-performance multilevel in-memory processing technology.